Willie Talau

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Willie Talau
WILLIE TALAU .jpg
Talau with Samoa at the 2008 World Cup
Personal information
Full name Viliamu Talau
Born (1976-01-25) January 25, 1976 (age 37)
Apia, Samoa
Height 5 ft 11.5 in (181.6 cm)
Weight 14 st 10 lb (93 kg)
Playing information
Position Rugby league positions#The three-quarters
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1994–96 Taranaki Rockets
1998–03 Canterbury Bulldogs 101 38 0 0 152
2003–08 St Helens 132 50 0 0 200
2009– Salford City 7 2 0 0 8
Total 240 90 0 0 360
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1999–06 New Zealand 13 9 0 0 36
2007–08 Samoa 3 0 0 0 0
As of 1 November 2008
Source: RLP

Viliamu (Willie) Talau (born 25 January 1976, in Samoa) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays for English club Salford City Reds of Super League. A Samoa and New Zealand international representative three-quarter back, he has played club football previously in the National Rugby League for the Bulldogs as well as for St Helens.

Contents

Playing career[edit]

Early years[edit]

Talau played for the Taranaki Rockets in the Lion Red Cup. At 21, his father gave him a one way ticket to Australia to try his luck playing league. While playing in the metropolitan Cup he was spotted by the Canterbury Bulldogs who signed him to play in the National Rugby League. In the 1994 Lion Red Cup Talau played in nine matches, scoring one try. He then played in all 22 matches for the Rockets in the 1995 season.

He played in 101 National Rugby League games for the Bulldogs, scoring 38 tries, including one in the 1998 NRL Grand Final loss to the Broncos.

St Helens[edit]

Talau has 13 New Zealand caps and played for the Kiwis at Old Trafford in the 2000 World Cup Final.

He signed for St. Helens in late 2003, having previously played for Canterbury Bulldogs. He made his Super League debut on 24 August 2003 against Hull.

Talau scored two tries in the 2004 Challenge Cup Final, and participated in St Helens' 2006 treble, scoring in both the Challenge Cup Final and the Super League Grand Final. Talau scored 11 tries in 29 games during the 2006 season.

He played in 2008's Super League XIII Grand Final defeat to the Leeds Rhinos.[1]

Salford[edit]

Talau joined European Super League side Salford City Reds for the start 2009 season.[2][3]

Representative career[edit]

A Junior Kiwis representative, Talau played in 13 games for the New Zealand Kiwis from 1999 to 2006, including the 2000 World Cup.

In 2007 Talau switched allegiances to Samoa. The following year he represented Samoa in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, playing two matches.[4][5]

Legacy[edit]

In 2008 he was named in the Taranaki Rugby League Team of the Century.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "2008 Grand Final". BBC. 2008-10-04. Retrieved 2008-10-05. 
  2. ^ "Salford snap up Talau from Saints". BBC. 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2008-10-10. 
  3. ^ "Reds in Talau swoop". Manchester Evening News. 2008-10-01. Retrieved 2008-10-01. 
  4. ^ "Samoa, Tonga and Fiji name squads". BBC. 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2008-10-09. 
  5. ^ "Samoa name World Cup Squad". League Unlimited. 2008-08-05. Retrieved 2008-08-06. 
  6. ^ "Dream team of century is named". Taranaki Daily News. 14 October 2008. Retrieved 24 September 2011. 

External links[edit]
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Willie_Talau&oldid=551381227"